British Spy Agencies And Their Oxbridge Origins

Readers of Rebel Voice in Ireland will be familiar with the activities of the British Spy Agencies of MI5 and MI6. Both organisations have a shady and fairly nasty history on the Emerald Isle which continues up to this very day. MI5 has a modern HQ at Palace Barracks in Holywood, just outside Belfast, an indication of their involvement in the political situation in the Occupied Six Counties.

Although disputed, many Irish Republicans believe that MI5 (Security Service) has now taken responsibility for spying on all of Ireland. It is known to have very strong links to the Special Detective Unit (SDU) of An Garda Síochána in the Irish Free State, so it should come as no surprise that they have now expanded their operations on the island of Ireland.

MI6 (Secret intelligence Service) has responsibility for spying (they call it intelligence gathering) everywhere outside of the UK, and now presumably outside of Ireland. Commentators have long pointed out that both agencies have a tendency to recruit their spooks from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (Oxbridge). The idea being that they wish to employ those who are both intellectually and physically at the top of their game.

With this in mind, Rebel Voice has compiled a list of those heads of both spy agencies who have attended either university. It should be remembered that it is not only English, or British, graduates who qualify from Oxbridge. There are many citizens of other nations who emerge from that most fertile of recruiting grounds for British spies, among them being numerous Irish people.

It might be worth mentioning that those who graduate from Oxbridge are held in high esteem by the business and political worlds across the Celtic Isles. The problem is, given the high incidence of spies from those universities, can anyone be certain that an Oxbridge graduate who is immersed in the world of politics, in Ireland for example, is not in the employ of either MI5 or MI6? The question must be asked.

MI6 Chiefs (Head of organisation):

Dick White, 1956-68, Christ Church College, Oxford

John Rennie, ’68-73, Balliol College, Oxford

Dick Franks, ’79-82, Queen’s College, Oxford

Colin Figures, ’81-85, Pembroke College, Cambridge

Christopher Curwen, ’85-89, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge

Colin McCall, ’89-94, Queen’s College, Oxford

David Spedding, ’94-99, Hertford College, Oxford

Richard Dearlove, ’99-04, Queens’ College, Cambridge

John Scarlett, ’04-09, Magdalen College, Oxford

Alex Younger, ’14- present. Although Rebel Voice tried to discover which university this spook attended, the information appears to be closely guarded. He was sponsored through university by the military and emerged with a degree in economics. He’s Scottish, apparently.

Of the 17 people who held the position of MI6 Chief, 9were definitely known to have attended an Oxbridge university. The earliest Chiefs were mostly Naval officers (as was James Bond due to Ian Fleming’s time in the Naval Intelligence Division).

Of the 12 MI6 Chiefs from 1956, 9 were former attendees of Oxbridge.

-MI6 Headquarters at 85, Vauxhall Cross, in London near the Thames River. Rumours are that it was built using Lego –

MI5 (aka Military Intelligence, Section 5) Directors General:

Dick White, 1953-56, Christ Church College, Oxford

Roger Hollis, ’56-65, Worcester College, Oxford

Martin Furnival Jones, ’65-72, Ganville and Caius College, Cambridge

Michael Hanley, ’72-78, Queen’s College, Oxford

Howard Smith, ’79-81, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge

John Jones, ’81-85, Christ College, Cambridge

Patrick Walker, ’88-92, Trinity College, Oxford

Stephen Lander, ’96-02, Queens’ College, Cambridge

Eliza Manningham-Buller, ’02-07, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

Andrew Parker, 2013- present, Churchill College, Cambridge

Of 17Directors General of MI5, 10 were known to have been at an Oxbridge university.

Of the 13 Directors General of MI5 from 1953, 10 were at Oxbridge.

– Thames House, 11&12 Millbank, London, close to the north bank of the River Thames. It also once held the London headquarters of the Northern Ireland (OSC) Office –